


Gratitude

by swirlycloud



Series: collection of Kakashi-centric fics [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, JUST FLUFF REALLY, Mutual Pining, They are so soft for each other, i also hand you naruto being precious af, mentions of our savior Katsuyu, we stan one (1) man might guy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28909812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swirlycloud/pseuds/swirlycloud
Summary: After Pain's assault on the Leaf Village, their surroundings are in shambles. Kakashi goes to find Naruto - but not without first being met with surprise to those big, beautiful brown eyes. My version of a fill-in-the-gaps /behind the scenes fluff piece after Naruto defeats Pain.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy
Series: collection of Kakashi-centric fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2120280
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	Gratitude

**Author's Note:**

> Gai finds Kakashi upon his return to Konoha, and some cute student/teacher bonding because Naruto is bb. 
> 
> Enjoy!

_What is happening?_

There is a soft, bright green glow, and a strange sensation zaps throughout his mind, heart, and soul. There is no way he can describe it, other than it feeling like he is being pulled between two planes of existence.

His father's voice is soft. “It seems you are still needed in that world.” Sakumo's eyes crinkle with a kindness and relief. “But I am glad that I got to meet you, son... Thank you. I think I can finally move on from here, and go to be with your mother.”

His son's eyes are wide, and while standing up at his full adult height, he still looks so small. “Father...”

The pinch in Sakumo's heart is brutal, but melts away with the caress of a soul finally being put to rest. “Goodbye, son.”

His father's image fades away into darkness and he reaches out instinctively.

But there is a jolt, and it feels like gravity in reverse. And suddenly, pain is a sensation that he can feel. Everything turns black for a moment... until it doesn't. The deep blue sky of the Earth greets him blindingly, and the dried up sweat and blood feels rough on his skin. He gasps and shoots straight up from where he had been laid on the ground by Katsuyu.

A relieved, fatherly voice rings in the background. “As I thought, Kakashi also-”

“Kakashi-sensei!! Kakashi-sensei...”

“I'm so glad... Thank God...” There are sniffles in the background, and the choked sobs of someone with a deep sadness who had been moved to tears of overwhelming joy. He pulls the man into a long, deep hug. “I'm so happy...”

_Is that..._

_Chouji...?_

Air feels foreign as it infiltrates his lungs, while his organs resume their otherwise ceaseless functions, rushing blood throughout his limbs, and head. Oh...his _head_. He can't move, and his body demands an eternal rest. Luckily, there are strong hands now wrapped around him, keeping him dear and close to human warmth. There is a fuzzy exchange of words in the background.

He is not sure how long he is held like that before he feels himself transferred to another set of hands. These ones are much stronger, more familiar, but... less confident.

“Oi, rival...” The deep, charming voice is achingly familiar. “Don't tell me you got taken down, too?”

That drawling, teasing tone contrasts sharply with an unmistakable apprehension etched in those eyes, Kakashi notices.

“You're cold as ice,” Gai murmurs, and a studious, calm expression overtakes his features. He continues to hold Kakashi close, and moves the hair away from his scarred eye. The other one is vacant, and glassy, seeming to stare up at him... but not really seeing him. Gai gently runs his thumb over the man's dusty gray, broken brow. “Open.”

Something makes Kakashi oblige, and he sees two – no, four? – fingers being held up in front of him. _It's..._

_Gai...!_

“How many?”

Kakashi tries to respond, but his body doesn't cooperate. Instead, he grimaces and finally manages to answer with a forceful movement of his chest as it hacks, producing a short coughing fit before settling his weight helplessly back into Gai's arms.

“It's okay, Gai.” Chouza peers down at his former student's stiffened figure and places a large hand atop his shiny, black hair for a moment. He smiles reassuringly toward the young man before heading eagerly back toward his resurrected clan members. “You can relax. From what I've been seeing with my clan members, it takes a bit of time for them to fully come back.”

A broken voice interrupts the latter part of his sentence.

“Don't tell me, you were...worried about me... Gai.”

“Kakashi!” Even for a half-dead person, in this scenario, he has the gall to try to act all cool.

The strong, once-comforting grip around him tightens him so much that he - “ _Gai_... it hurts...” His friend's grip slackens instantly, almost remorsefully, and Kakashi draws in a few shaky breaths. “Ugh... what happened?” Having heard Gai's voice simply say his name feels like nothing short of a blessing, and he notes a rising heat creeping across his cheeks, and assumes it is either a delirious wave of affection, or the beginnings of a fever. Either way, he tries to ignore it while he pieces together his most recent memories. “Weren't you and your team out on a mission... outside the village?”

Gai gives him a wide, knowing grin. “Never mind that. This, here... it's all over, now.” There is a pause, as he takes in Kakashi's wide-eyed look, both temporarily mesmerized at each other with the news.

“Anyway... it looks like this is the doing of your student. The whole village is grateful.” The sun's rays beat down on his tanned cheekbones with sureness, hugging the contours of his face as his expression turns reflective. A gust of dusty wind sweeps over them, and then noise soon settles into a moment of quiet. He'd seen the endless damage, the countless lives lost... but then miraculously regained. Like this one. “People who had been fatally injured are all...coming back to life...” A single, sparkling tear quickly pools in his eye, finally spilling down his cheek and splashing on Kakashi's own, mixing its salt with the tears that Chouji had left him.

_What..?!_ Kakashi remembers that it had been the end of the rope for him, of course, after he had used up the last ounces of his chakra in his final defensive attack, warping away the rocket missile that had been directed straight at Chouji. It seems Chouji had completed his mission. All of the information had been gathered by the villages top experts, and anyone else that had encountered the Pains and lived to pass on the intel, like Chouji...

_Asuma. You would be so proud of your student._

After a minute of reflection, Gai notices Kakashi begin to gain more awareness of his surroundings. The glassiness in his eyes is gone, and a new alertness becomes apparent on his face. He sits up straight, wriggling from Gai's support, and stares down at his hand, as if trapped in thought.

“So... Naruto did this, huh?”

“Yeah. Katsuyu- sama relayed what happened to all of us. One of her bodies was with him the whole time. Naruto defeated the six pains, or rather, all seven.”

There is a rise in voices as villagers begin to find each other, some weeping, some laughing, and some too shocked to say much of anything.

_Naruto..._ “Where is he?” Kakashi pushes himself off the ground, attempting to stand upright, but the accompanying darkness that the head rush brings is overwhelming. Eyes squeezed shut, he nearly collapses to his knee. Before he can do anything, Gai is already stabilizing him with his usual steadfast reassurance, keeping him upright until he gets his bearings.

“Take it easy, Kakashi.” With a glance towards his arms, he sees Kakashi open his eyes, now making a motion to remove Gai's grasp from his shoulders. He gulps. _You did just...die...after all..._

Dismissively, he responds, “Yeah, I will. Thanks, Gai.” _I need to go find him._ He scans the area and finds one of Katsuyu's bodies attached to a recovering ninja a few metres away. _There_. He pulls away from Gai and starts moving toward them.

“Oi, Kakashi! Where the hell do you think you're going?” Gai calls out, worry leaching into his voice. His extended reach is left without regard, hands suddenly very empty. _First Kakashi gets himself killed, then comes back to life, and now he's just walking away from me already?_ There is an aching in his chest that rises and falls, rises and falls.

Kakashi stops in his tracks, and pauses before turning around. “Gai,” he says finally. “I'm fine. Really. My injuries are gone.. somehow. I'll be back.” Waiting and seeing no change in his friend, he adds earnestly, and a bit quieter, “Can you find Sakura and make sure she's ok?”

Gai's eyes narrow, and his mouth falls open slightly, before shutting. He bites the bottom of his lip, which causes the other man to cast his gaze to the side. Gai wants to tell him that he has already done that, that he has already checked with Katsuyu-sama and Sakura is doing fine. He knows that the priority of their students come first, and even more, Kakashi should have known that Gai already did that for him.

Kakashi seems to sense that Gai has seen right through him. He allows himself to feel flustered, but that can only be blamed on the light-headedness he feels _after being resurrected from the hands of death._ He decides to be honest, since he doesn't really know how to act any other way at this moment. “I need to find Naruto. I need to make sure he's alright.”

Gai shifts the weight in his stance from his front foot to his back foot in concession. “Ok. I'll take care of things on this end. Don't you worry, my rival.” He flashes him his trademark grin and offers him a thumbs up.

A soft, belated smile and a lingering wave. “Thanks, Gai...” With that, Kakashi turns away from him and walks over to Katsuyu, kneeling down to her level to speak.

_Thank you, Naruto..._ Gai stares at the back of the head of his eternal rival, watching his aura change from warm, intimate, and fuzzy, back to his usual cool, collected, and alert. _For whatever you did, thank you for bringing Kakashi back._

_Thank you for saving the people of this village..!!_

_–_

Northwest, a few kilometres out. 

Kakashi had scrubbed the dirt and dried up blood off from himself, splashing water all over his head and hair, to remove the awful pink tinge. Scattered among the debris, he'd found a replacement for his Leaf headband, and tied it on dutifully. If he's going to find Naruto, he can't show up looking like death. He can't let Naruto know that he'd... died. He has to be strong – even if Naruto has already surpassed him, and they were to fight alongside each other as equals, not teacher and student... It doesn't matter.

Right now, Naruto could be near death, himself, for all he knows. And his emotional state?

The thought of it causes Kakashi to pick up speed he doesn't have.

Soon he finds a shadowed figure, trudging pathetically along the forest floor, footsteps crunching at stray twigs and fallen leaves. The figure breathlessly reaches out toward a giant tree trunk, as if to steady themselves. Kakashi squints, and comes to a sharp halt from above. _Naruto?!_

The boy's hand slides away from the tree as he tries to take one more step forward, but in that second, his head drops forward as if on the brink of collapse. Before that second is over, Kakashi is there, ready to catch him onto his back.

“I've got you, Naruto. Stay put and take it easy. I'll take you home.”

There is a short pause before Naruto breathes out with tired, happy relief. “...Kakashi-sensei...” He digs his chin into the nook of Kakashi's neck, squishing his own whiskered cheek.

“Yes, I'm here.” Kakashi hooks Naruto onto his back properly and begins hiking forward. As he carries the village's savior, a rise of a prideful affection envelopes his entire being, and Kakashi suddenly has never felt happier to be alive. _I'm so proud of you. You've done what was thought to be impossible. The people of our village are already buzzing with word of your success._

_The village was completely decimated...but..._

_They're all -_

“-Alive.”

Kakashi blinks, startled from his thoughts just half a kilometre from where they'd left from. “What?” It's quiet, but he can hear sorrowful sniffles that would cause even his war-hardened ninja dogs to start bawling and licking their paws. His stomach drops. “Naruto, what's wrong?”

“...You're alive. It was true, he really did it. I don't really know how, y'know, but... he really did it...”

Hearing the cracks in his student's voice causes him to flinch. He can feel hot tears dripping down onto his left shoulder. Damn... he had already known. “I'm sorry, Naruto. I won't let it happen again.”

_First the Third Hokage, then Asuma, Jiraiya-sama, and now, me..._

First his father, then Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei...

_I won't allow you to be burdened with the kind of loss I had to suffer, either._

_“_ As if... you could promise me something like that...” Naruto pouts, nudging his chin into Kakashi's shoulder muscle. He is so tired he can't even tell if he's awake and this is real, or if he's dreaming, passed out in the forest outskirts of the village.

Kakashi tries to change the subject, sensing Naruto's rapid descent into depressed oblivion.“So, tell me about how your training went at Mount Myoboku... I take it went well?”

At this, Naruto blinks, takes a minute, and wipes away his tears. He decides that he must be awake. Although still shaky at first, his voice takes on an excited tone as he relays his adventures while training with the Masters.

“Ah. So, then... you are a true Sage now.”

“Yes!”

“Good job... maybe once the village is rebuilt, you can start taking on S-rank missions and buy me dinner.” He hears a scoff of ridicule near his ear, and lets out a hearty, dry chuckle. “Seriously... after all the money I spent on you kids...”

“Nice try! But you can't sweet-talk me into paying for your meal. That's what Yamato-taichou is for. Or bushy-brow sensei, even!”

“So stingy...”

“You're one to talk!”

_Man... he's gotten heavier._ Kakashi's muscles still burn, and every step he takes feels like rocks piling on him. But to be the one to be there for Naruto, after everything he must have gone through... there is no price Kakashi would not pay.

As they near the the boundary of their destroyed village, the loud voices in the background begin to coalesce into collective cheers.

“Naruto!! You did it!”

“I can't believe he did it! We're saved!”

“Woo! Pain has been defeated!”

“He's back! Naruto saved us!”

Once they are in the vicinity of the cheering villagers, Kakashi takes his cue and so releases his former student, gingerly lowering him onto his feet, where he then stands, dumbfounded, stunned by the crowd that rushes towards him.

_Naruto... you have gone above and beyond any expectations I could ever have. The village adores you, and you have more than earned their trust, loyalty, and friendship. You changed the minds and hearts of so many, with your actions today. It shouldn't have had to come to that for it to happen... but slowly, over time, I've seen the change._

_And with your ever-growing power, you also come closer to reaching Sasuke..._

One day, Kakashi will see his precious students all back together again. He has to believe in that reality for as long as possible. And as long as Naruto is around, it doesn't have to be just a dream, because Kakashi truly believes that Naruto has the power to make that happen.

_Thank you._

**Author's Note:**

> I've been in a mood to write a lot of Kakashi lately, and exploring the relationships he has with other characters. Also lots of inspiration from re-reading a few arcs in the manga and rewatching episodes as well. 
> 
> Writing that last section reminded me really of how deeply Kakashi cares for those he considers close (although let's be real he is not the best at showing it outwardly). He's kept Gai by his side, basically trusts only him, and always has a watchful eye over both Sakura and especially Naruto. Don't even get me started on the complications between Sasuke and Kakashi, but... anyway yeah. Also I have renewed love for Gai these past few months and aaah. 
> 
> Anyway, feel free to leave a comment below! :) Or you can send me an ask on tumblr @swirlycloud


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